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R. T. NEWTON.

AU'IOMOBILE BUFFER.

APPLICATION HLED 020.23. ms.

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AU'a'OMOBlLE BUFFER.

APPLHZATIEN men 0202s. 1916.

Patented June 15, 1920.

Inventor:

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RICHARD '1. NEWTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMOBILE-BUFFER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1920.

Application illed December 23, 1916. Serial No. 138,565.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD T. NEWTON,

a citizen of the United States of America, and residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and Improved Automobile-Butler, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to buffers and particularly to buffers for automobiles, the ob ject of my invention being to provide a simple, rugged construction adapted to protect the car from injury by collision.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a horizontal section through a portion of a buffer bar applied to the side bar of the chassis;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof showing the butter in section on the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3+3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a broken perspective showing portions of the butter bar detached prior to assembly; 1

Fig. 5 is a cross section of an attaching clump of modified construction: and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the front portion of an automobile showing my improved bufi'er bar attached thereto.

The present butler. as illustrated, comprises a central bar 10 of channel section having riveted thereto at its opposite ends tubular extensions 11 and 12 adapted to extend in front of the wheels 13 and 14 of the car. Within each tubular extension I provide an abutment 15 in the form of a diaphragm against which bears one end'ot a after coil spring 16. The opposite end of the s ring bears against the ball-shaped to any seat 1 formed at the outer end of the buffer-supporting extension 11 or 12 through a slot 19 there n and takes its normal position above a pair of extended bearing flanges 20 on the butfer her. At its inner end the arm 18 is pivoted on a vertical axis on the bolt 21 which is carried by lugs at the forward end of a bracket 22. The latter is supported by and clamped on the spring bolt 23 by the usual nut 24 for 'the latter and extends reamvardly suitable point of attachment to the chassis such as a clamp 25 enga ing the lower flange 26 of the side bar 2 of the chassis frame and secured b the clamp nut 28. The particular form 0 the clamp may be variousl modified, thus in Fig. 5 I have shown the )racket 29 with an integral hook flange 30 which takes over the lower flange arm 18 which passes into the will readily occur 26 of the chassis bar 27 and is clam ed in position by a heavy set screw 31. arious other forms of clamps or indeed different methods of attachment of the bracket 22 will readily occur to those skilled in the art, the object of the bracket being merely to so support the buffer carrying arm 18 that on shock to the buffer the strain is transmitted directly to the chassis frame.

\Vhile l have shown the presentd buiier bar as comprising tubular end members 11 and 12 and a channel section mid-bar member 10, the same method of support through the buffer arm 18 and spring 16 may readily be applied to other types of construction, for instance, to a bar tubular throughout or a bar of channel section throughout and I do not limit this feature of the invention to the particular construction shown for the bar. It is advantageous, however, to have the central portion of the bar channel section since this affords a very rigid member not apt to bend under the shock of impact. It is moreover 1i ht. The tubular end portions 11 and 12 iiave the advantage of saving the wheels 13 and 11 from injury should the bar be driven back hard against the latter, as might be the case on some cars. The tubular form will prevent the cutting of the tires which is apt to occur where the bar is of channel section. The particular method of forming the joint between the mid section 10 and end sections 11 and 12 may be varied at will, but a convenient method is to form a rectangular end 32 on the tubular sections 11 and 12 adapted to pass into the channel of the channel bar 10 and having shoulders 33 a ainst which the upper and lower flanges o the channel abut.

inasmuch as the springs 16 are placed in position under compression, the bar is held firmly in its mid-position and there is no opportunity for vibration or chattering. lug 31 on the buffer arm 18 bears against the bracket 22 and limits the movement of the bufl'er arm in one direction. It is obvious that u )on impact against the buffer the latter is driven inward, thus causing the arms 18 to swing outward in the plane of the'bar thus com ressin cushioning the s lock 0 impact.

Various modifications of sprin arrangement, form of buffer arm and ot er details to those skilled in the a rt without departing from what I claim as my invention.

the springs 16 and' I claim as my invention 1. In a bufier bar, a cushionin spring housed within said bar, in combination with bar-supportin means operatively associated with said sprin to cushion the shock of impact a ainst sai bar.

2. A bu or bar a bufier spring housed therein, a pivoted bufler supporting arm operativelg associated with one end of said spring an means for mounting said buffer arm on the chassis.

3. A bufler bar, a buffer spring housed therein, a buffer supporting arm aving a sliding connection with the butter bar and engaging said spring, and means for mounting said arm on the chassis.

4. A buffer bar, a buffer supporting arm pivoted on a vertical axis and having a sliding connection with the buffer bar, together with a buffer spring operatively engaged by said buiter arm.

5. A buffer bar, a buffer supporting arm lying in the plane of the bar and pivoted on a vertical axis and a buffer spring operatively interposed between said supporting arm and bar and operated by the oscillation of the arm on impact against the buffer bar.

6. A buffer bar comprising a mid portion of rectangular section and end portions of roimded section rigid therewith in combination with a butter spring housed in each of said rounded sections, and a pair of stress transmitting members operatively associated respectively at their outer ends with said buffer springs and at their inner ends with supports.

7. A buffer bar comprising a mid portion of channel section and end portions of rounded section havin attaching ends of rectangular section to t within said channel section in combination with a buffer spring housed in each of said rounded sections, and a pair of stress transmitting members operntive'ly associated respectively at their outer ends with said bufi'er springs and at their inner ends with supports.

8. A buffer bar comprising a hollow portion of rounded section having a longitudinal slot, a supporting arm passing through said slot and having a retaining head freely cu -aged within sald portion to afford a sliding en gement therewith.

9. A bu er bar comprising a hollow portion of rounded section having a longitudinal slot, a supporting arm passing through said slot and having a retaining head freely engaged within said portion to afl'ord ii sliding engagement therewith, together with a cushionin spring housed within the bar and stressed by the relative movement of the arm and bar through said sliding connection.

10 A buffer bar, a pivoted bnfler supporting arm having therewith a Sliding connection lengthwise of the bar and n cushioning spring stressed by the relative movement of the arm and bar through said sliding connection.

11. An automobile buffer comprising a transverse bufi'er bar, a transversely nrranged bufl'er spring lying behind the same, and a stress transmitting member operatively associated at its outer end with said bufi'er sprin and at its inner end with a support, saic stress transmitting member flexing in the substantially horizontal plane of the bumper on impact against the latter.

12. An automobile buffer comprising :1 transverse buffer bar, a transversely arranged butter spring lying behind the bar, and a lever the outer end of which is operatively associated with said spring and is transversely displaceable on impact against the bumper while the inner end of said lever engages a support.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD T. NEWTON.

\Vitnesses SAMUEL H. SHAW, Gnome J. Saran. 

